Argos to give £2.4m to workers who were underpaid

Thousands of Argos workers will share a £2.4m payout after it emerged they had been paid less than the national living wage.

Around 37,000 past and present employees - including 12,000 current staff - will get an average of £64 each.

The "incorrect" payments were discovered in a review following the retailer's takeover by Sainsbury (Amsterdam: SJ6.AS - news) 's.

They relate to workers not being paid for staff briefings that could happen before they clocked on, or for security searches after they had finished their shifts.

John Rogers, the former Sainsbury's executive put in charge of Argos after its £1.4bn takeover by the supermarket chain last year, said the issue was brought to his attention after a routine visit by HM Revenue and Customs.

In a letter to staff, he said: "Sainsbury's prides itself on being a trusted brand where people love to work and I was, therefore, very disappointed to hear this and launched an immediate investigation."

He said new processes had been introduced to ensure there could be no repeat.

Mr Rogers said Argos workers paid below the national minimum wage before December 2016 would receive a payment on 28 February for the amount they are owed.

It comes a day after the Government named and shamed 360 businesses for underpaying workers.

The list included department store chain Debenhams (Frankfurt: D2T.F - news) and covered employers across the hairdressing, retail hospitality and car home sector.

In total, more than 15,000 workers lost out on more than £995,000.

Excuses for paying less than the national minimum or living wage included using tips to top up pay, docking wages to pay for Christmas parties and making staff pay for their own uniforms.

Debenhams made the list, released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), for failing to pay almost £135,000 to just under 12,000 workers.

The company said it made a technical error in its payroll calculations, which resulted in an average underpayment of around £10 per person to affected workers in 2015.

It was fined £63,000 by BEIS for the breach.